MOBILE TERMINAL
An object of the present invention is to provide a mobile terminal in which a sound path can be secured around speaker sound holes when the mobile terminal is placed and which can thereby provide stable sound to a user. A mobile terminal according to the present invention is a mobile terminal in which an upper housing including a display unit is connected to a lower housing (1) including an operation unit in a freely-movable fashion and a speaker sound hole (7) is formed in a surface of the lower housing (1) opposite to the operation unit (rear surface), in which the rear surface is configured so as to be inclined with respect to a placing-surface (6) when the mobile terminal is placed on the placing-surface so that a space (9) that allows speaker sound to be released is formed between the rear surface and the placing-surface, and a protrusion (4) is formed near the speaker sound hole (7). As a result, a sound path is secured around the speaker sound hole (7), and therefore stable sound can be provided to a user.
The present invention relates to a mobile terminal, in particular a mobile terminal in which is a display-unit housing is connected to an operation-unit housing in a freely-movable fashion and speaker sound holes are formed in the surface of the operation-unit housing opposite to the operation unit.
BACKGROUND ARTApparatuses having various configurations have been used as mobile phones, which are typical examples of mobile terminals. One example of such mobile phones is a folding-type mobile phone.
In
Mobile phones have been diversified in their shape to reduce the weight and the thickness of the apparatuses. As a result, as a type of such folding-type mobile phones, there are ones in which a speaker function is provided near the hinge portion on the rear surface of the lower housing 1. In
Considering the scene in which a user uses a mobile phone having such a structure, the apparatus is usually placed on a placing-surface of a desk or the like. In this state, the rear surface of the housing in which the speaker sound holes 7 are formed comes into contact with the placing-surface. As a result, since the speaker sound holes 7 also comes into contact with the placing-surface, the speaker sound is muffled or reduced, thus causing a problem that the sound pressure is lowered.
Accordingly, there are mobile phones in which protrusions 8 are provided as separate members near the speaker on the rear surface of the lower housing 1 as shown in
Note that
Patent literature 1: Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Application Publication No. 7-25645
SUMMARY OF INVENTION Technical ProblemWhen the lower housing 1 is placed on the placing-surface 6, these protrusions 8, which are provided as separate members, always come into contact with the placing-surface 6 regardless of whether the apparatus is opened or closed. Therefore, there is a concern that these protrusions 8 could be worn away and thereby scraped away or dislodged, or could cause other similar problems.
An object of the present invention is to provide a mobile terminal in which a sound path can be secured around speaker sound holes when the mobile terminal is placed and which can thereby provide stable sound to a user.
Solution to ProblemA mobile terminal according to the present invention is a mobile terminal in which a second housing including a display unit is connected to a first housing including an operation unit in a freely-movable fashion and a speaker sound hole is formed on a surface of the first housing opposite to the operation unit (rear surface), in which the rear surface is configured so as to be inclined with respect to a placing-surface when the mobile terminal is placed on the placing-surface so that a space that allows speaker sound to be released is formed between the rear surface and the placing-surface, and a protrusion is formed near the speaker sound hole.
Advantageous Effects of InventionAccording to the present invention, the rear surface is configured so as to be inclined with respect to the placing-surface so that a space is created between the housing rear surface on which the speaker sound hole is formed and the placing-surface. In this way, the protrusion comes into contact with the placing-surface only when the second housing is moved with respect to the first housing and the center of gravity of the apparatus is thereby moved toward the second housing. Therefore, there is an advantageous effect that stable speaker sound can be supplied to a user while the above-described problem caused by the wear of the protrusion is solved.
Exemplary embodiments according to the present invention are explained hereinafter with reference to the drawings.
As shown in
For example, as shown in
In this way, the space 9 is formed between them and speaker sound can be thereby released to the outside through the space 9. A configuration in which the lower frame is inclined in a form of a straight line, instead of in the round form, may be also employed. Further, in this exemplary embodiment, a protrusion 4 is provided at the center of the speaker sound holes 7.
When the mobile phone is in the state shown in
Then, as shown in
However, in this exemplary embodiment, the protrusion 4 is provided at the center of the speaker sound holes 7. Therefore, when the upper housing 2 is opened with respect to the lower housing 1 so that the angle between them become an obtuse angle as shown in
According to this exemplary embodiment, the protrusion 4 comes into contact with the placing-surface 6 only when the upper housing 2 moves with respect to the lower housing 1 and the center of gravity of the apparatus is thereby shifted toward the upper housing as shown in
Note that the location of the protrusion 4 is not limited to the center of the speaker sound holes 7 as shown in
This exemplary embodiment has such an advantageous effect that the space 9 is secured regardless of the movement of the upper housing, i.e., regardless of the change of the center of gravity of the apparatus, and therefore the protrusion is unnecessary.
Although the above-described exemplary embodiments are explained by using folding-type mobile phones in which the second housing is connected to the first housing in such a manner that the second housing can freely open and close as examples, the present invention is not limited to such configurations. The present invention can be applied to any mobile phones in which the second housing is connected to the first housing in a freely-movable fashion, including a mobile phone in which the second housing is rotatably connected to the first housing and a mobile phone in which the second housing is slidably connected to the first housing. Further, it is obvious that the present invention can be applied not only to mobile phones, but also to other mobile information processing terminals.
Although the present invention has been explained with reference to certain exemplary embodiments above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described exemplary embodiments. Various modifications that can be understood by those skilled in the art can be made to the configurations and the details of the present invention without departing from the scope of the present invention.
This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese patent application No. 2009-098526, filed on Apr. 15, 2009, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
REFERENCE SIGNS LIST
- 1 Lower (First) Housing
- 2 Upper (Second) Housing
- 3 Hinge Portion
- 4, 8 Protrusion
- 6 Speaker Sound Holes
- 9 Space
- 11 Lower Frame
- 12 Display Unit
- 13 Operation Unit
Claims
1. A mobile terminal wherein a second housing comprising a display unit is connected to a first housing comprising an operation unit in a freely-movable fashion and a speaker sound hole is formed in a surface of the first housing opposite to the operation unit, wherein
- the rear surface is configured so as to be inclined with respect to a placing-surface when the mobile terminal is placed on the placing-surface so that a to space that allows speaker sound to be released is formed between the rear surface and the placing-surface, and
- a protrusion is formed near the speaker sound hole.
2. The mobile terminal according to claim 1, wherein when a center of gravity of the mobile terminal is shifted toward the second housing as a result of a movement of the second housing, the protrusion comes into contact with the placing-surface.
3. The mobile terminal according to claim 1, wherein the speaker sound hole comprises a plurality of speaker sound holes, and the protrusion is disposed at a center of these plurality of speaker sound holes.
Type: Application
Filed: Mar 2, 2010
Publication Date: Jan 26, 2012
Patent Grant number: 9106728
Inventor: Takahiro Nakagawa (Saitama)
Application Number: 13/258,909
International Classification: H04R 1/02 (20060101);